Methods and systems for intelligent enterprise bill-of-process with embedded cell for analytics

ABSTRACT

A method and a system for organizing management information within an enterprise are provided. The method includes storing an enterprise bill of process (eBOP) comprising a plurality of enterprise process events and at least one respective threshold for each enterprise process event in an information engine and receiving enterprise process data relating to the plurality of enterprise process events from an information engine. The enterprise process data includes historical data relating to the enterprise process events, real-time current information relating to the enterprise process events, predicted data based on the historical data, the current data and measured or derived parameters associated with the at least some of the plurality of enterprise process events, and algorithmic models of at least one of the enterprise process events including parameters, variables, and measurements. The method further includes generating immediate actions directing subscribed parties to perform determined remedial procedures of an action plan.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to organizing management informationand, more particularly, to creating and disseminating action plans forfuture events.

Current trends in the manufacturing environment increase the weight ofcollaboration in the manufacturing process. While developing informationand processes has always been important in the manufacturing process,with recent emphasis on the convergence of IT and the manufacturingprocess, leading organizations have begun taking collaboration to thenext level.

An example of these trends is the Enterprise Bill of Process (eBOP).With increasingly capable IT infrastructures, the Bill of Process (BOP),is becoming a global consideration in Manufacturing OperationsManagement (MOM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). The resultingeBOP, a best practices template for production, is creating a place forcross-functional teams to share information and collaborate in ways thatweren't possible before.

The resulting shift toward process-centric management of workflowsacross the enterprise using eBOP is similar to taking a Business ProcessManagement (BPM) approach on the shop floor.

At least some known manufacturing processes begin with a product ideathat is first visualized with an engineering design, followed by thecreation of a Bill of Materials (BOM). The BOM is a list of parts andmaterials needed to make a product, and, without it, manufacturing wouldbe impossible. But the BOM is only part of the product equation. Itshows “what” to make, not “how” to manufacture it, leaving the rest upto the BOP.

During the design process, engineers create a design-oriented partslist, i.e., eBOM, which represents how engineering views the product.Manufacturing engineers restructure the eBOM into a process-orientedmBOM (commonly known as a Bill of Process—BOP). It will show how theproduct will be made, and simultaneously create the sequence of steps toproduce a part and the required resources—work centers, tools andskills.

The BOP is comprised of detailed plans explaining the manufacturingprocesses for a particular product. Within these plans resides in-depthinformation on machinery, plant resources, equipment layout,configurations, tools, and instructions. Traditionally, companies withmany plants and processes have only informal BOPs for each location, orfor each product or manufacturing line at a location. Changes to the BOPare communicated to the rest of the enterprise during periodic meetingsof the interested parties and it is typical for the process to take along time and a lot of man/hours. There is a lack of efficiency,scalability, and visibility in this methodology.

There have been many attempts to bring data and activities from PLM andMOM together within the so-called “Digital Manufacturing” discipline. Anexample is a concept to combine the eBOP and BPM (Business ProcessManagement) to act as an integration platform between Engineering andManufacturing Operations. There are also many collaboration platforms,but these are very generic social platforms and do not provide processmanagement capabilities.

Global Manufacturing enterprises have invested heavily in operationalexcellence practices for many years, wringing the inefficiencies out ofevery operation in the production process. Supply chains have beentightened, inventories reduced or virtually eliminated with just-in-timeprocessing, and production operations at every stage streamlined andoptimized.

But there is one area in the lean revolution that often is notConsidered—not because it doesn't matter, but because it has been sodifficult to deliver a solution. That neglected area is the managementdecision-making process. For example, consider a global manufacturerthat has practiced continuous improvement for a period of time. Duringthat time, products roll off the assembly line with precision. Thequality team is successfully managing a quality of production worldwide,so yields are consistently high. Warehouses operate at top efficiency.And then, a supplier problem develops such as, a key component beginstrending out of specification. The response of the global manufacturerto this problem depends on the managers who have responsibility, howquickly can they identify the problem, whether corrective actionprocedures are in place, how quickly they correct the problem, and howaccurately.

A main challenge is how to get the optimal inter-cooperation out of thekey enterprise process domains and let the results drive the relevantbusiness decision processes within a social collaborative environment:

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)—as the highest financial andcommercial system domain.

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)—or the Global Engineering systemdomain.

Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) or Global ProductionManagement system domain.

There are already many attempts to bring these domains to cooperatetogether, but the focus is mainly on how to make these extremelyisolated systems (ERP, PLM, MOM) exchange their data efficiently. Ingeneral, these efforts focused mainly on the system interface orinterconnection, with some use-cases or business scenarios demonstratingthe benefits of those data sharing or exchange. There are many attemptsto bring data and activities from PLM and MOM together within theso-called “Digital Manufacturing” discipline.

There are several concepts to make the combined eBOP (EnterpriseBill-Of-Process) and MOM (Manufacturing Operations Management) acting asplatform for data interchange between both domains—but these effortsdon't involve Business Process Management. There are also genericcollaboration frameworks in the market—like Yammer, Jive etc. But, theseare only generic frameworks and there is no workflow or procedureinvolved for the collaborative decision-making. There is no concept orreal-world practice that addresses the holistic interoperability for keydecision-makers in the global enterprise and covering all enterprisedomains with global governance from the BPM point of view. Knownattempts provide only narrow-scope interconnections between ERP, PLM,and MOM systems and mainly focus on data exchange.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for organizing managementinformation within an enterprise includes storing an enterprise bill ofprocess (eBOP) comprising a plurality of enterprise process events andat least one respective threshold for each enterprise process event inan information engine and receiving enterprise process data relating tothe plurality of enterprise process events from an information engine.The enterprise process data includes historical data relating to theenterprise process events, real-time current information relating to theenterprise process events, predicted data based on the historical data,the current data and measured or derived parameters associated with theat least some of the plurality of enterprise process events, andalgorithmic models of at least one of the enterprise process eventsincluding parameters, variables, and measurements. The method furtherincludes generating immediate actions directing subscribed parties toperform determined remedial procedures of an action plan.

In another aspect, a computing device for an intelligent enterprisebill-of-process (IEBOP) system comprising an embedded analytics cell,includes one or more processors communicatively coupled to one or morememory devices wherein the one or more memory devices includescomputer-executable instructions that when executed by the one or moreprocessors cause the one or more processors to store an intelligententerprise bill of process (IEBOP) comprising a plurality of enterpriseprocess events and at least one respective threshold for each enterpriseprocess event in an information engine. The IEBOP is stored in abusiness objects database. The computer-executable instructions furthercause the one or more processors to receive enterprise process data froman information engine, the enterprise process data relating to theplurality of enterprise process events wherein the enterprise processdata includes historical data relating to the enterprise process events,real-time current information relating to the enterprise process events,predicted data based on the historical data, the current data andmeasured or derived parameters associated with the at least some of theplurality of enterprise process events, and algorithmic models of atleast one of the enterprise process events including parameters,variables, and measurements. The computer-executable instructionsfurther cause the one or more processors to generate immediate actionsthat direct subscribed parties to perform determined remedial proceduresof an action plan and receive reports from the subscribed parties ofprogress of implementation of the action plan.

In yet another aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereonis provided. When executed by at least one processor, thecomputer-executable instructions cause the processor to store anenterprise bill of process (eBOP) comprising a plurality of enterpriseprocess events and at least one respective threshold for each enterpriseprocess event in an information engine, the eBOP stored in a businessobjects database and receive enterprise process data from an informationengine, the enterprise process data relating to the plurality ofenterprise process events. The enterprise process data includeshistorical data relating to the enterprise process events, real-timecurrent information relating to the enterprise process events, predicteddata based on the historical data, the current data and measured orderived parameters associated with the at least some of the plurality ofenterprise process events, and algorithmic models of at least one of theenterprise process events including parameters, variables, andmeasurements. The computer-executable instructions further cause theprocessor to generate immediate actions that direct subscribed partiesto perform determined remedial procedures of an action plan.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-6 show exemplary embodiments of the methods and systemsdescribed herein.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an enterprise having a businessgoal in accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an implementation of a crossdomain traveling intelligent cell (TIC) in an enterprise resourceplanning environment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of intelligent enterprise Bill ofProcess (IEBOP) as part of an enterprise bill of material (BOM).

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a computer-implemented method for organizingmanagement information within an enterprise in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary intelligent enterprisebill-of-process (IEBOP) system used to facilitate communication ofenterprise process data between managers of various entities within anenterprise.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary configuration of a database within a computingdevice, along with other related computing components, that may be usedfor organizing management information within an enterprise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of thedisclosure by way of example and not by way of limitation. It iscontemplated that the disclosure has general application to managingcommunication in an enterprise.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is typically implemented in businessprocess management software that allows an organization to use a systemof integrated applications to manage the business and automate many backoffice functions related to technology, services and human resources.ERP software integrates all facets of an operation, including productplanning, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing.

ERP software is considered an enterprise application as it is designedto be used by larger businesses and often requires dedicated teams tocustomize and analyze the data and to handle upgrades and deployment. Incontrast, Small business ERP applications are lightweight businessmanagement software solutions, customized for the business industry youwork in.

In industry, product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process ofmanaging the entire lifecycle of a product from inception, throughengineering design and manufacture, to service and disposal ofmanufactured products.

Manufacturing operations management (MOM) is a methodology for viewingan end-to-end manufacturing process with a view to optimizingefficiency.

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are computerized systems used inmanufacturing. MES can provide the right information at the right timeand show the manufacturing decision-maker how the current conditions onthe plant floor can be optimized to improve production output. MES workin real time to enable the control of multiple elements of theproduction process (e.g. inputs, personnel, machines and supportservices).

MES might operate across multiple function areas, for example:management of product definitions across the product life-cycle,resource scheduling, order execution and dispatch, production analysisfor Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and materials track andtrace.

The idea of MES might be seen as an intermediate step between, on theone hand, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, and aSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) or process controlsystem on the other; although historically, exact boundaries havefluctuated.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding pluralelements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly recited.Furthermore, references to “exemplary embodiment” or “one embodiment” ofthe present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excludingthe existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate therecited features.

As used herein, the term “database” may refer to either a body of data,a relational database management system (RDBMS), or both. As usedherein, a database may include any collection of data includinghierarchical databases, relational databases, flat file databases,object-relational databases, object oriented databases, and any otherstructured collection of records or data that is stored in a computersystem. The above examples are example only, and thus are not intendedto limit in any way the definition and/or meaning of the term database.Examples of RDBMS's include, but are not limited to including, Oracle®Database, MySQL, IBM® DB2, Microsoft® SQL Server, Sybase®, andPostgreSQL. However, any database may be used that enables the systemsand methods described herein. (Oracle is a registered trademark ofOracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, Calif.; IBM is a registeredtrademark of International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.;Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, Redmond,Wash.; and Sybase is a registered trademark of Sybase, Dublin, Calif.)

As used herein, a processor may include any programmable systemincluding systems using micro-controllers, reduced instruction setcircuits (RISC), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), logiccircuits, and any other circuit or processor capable of executing thefunctions described herein. The above examples are example only, and arethus not intended to limit in any way the definition and/or meaning ofthe term “processor.”

As used herein, the terms “software” and “firmware” are interchangeable,and include any computer program stored in memory for execution by aprocessor, including RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROMmemory, and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. The above memory types areexample only, and are thus not limiting as to the types of memory usablefor storage of a computer program.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer program isprovided, and the program is embodied on a computer readable medium. Inan exemplary embodiment, the system is executed on a single computersystem, without requiring a connection to a server computer. In afurther embodiment, the system is being run in a Windows® environment(Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, Redmond,Wash.). In yet another embodiment, the system is run on a mainframeenvironment and a UNIX® server environment (UNIX is a registeredtrademark of X/Open Company Limited located in Reading, Berkshire,United Kingdom). The application is flexible and designed to run invarious different environments without compromising any majorfunctionality. In some embodiments, the system includes multiplecomponents distributed among a plurality of computing devices. One ormore components may be in the form of computer-executable instructionsembodied in a computer-readable medium. The systems and processes arenot limited to the specific embodiments described herein. In addition,components of each system and each process can be practiced independentand separate from other components and processes described herein. Eachcomponent and process can also be used in combination with otherassembly packages and processes.

Embodiments of the present disclosure facilitate “harmonizing” thedifferent needs of various stakeholders and handles core businessprocesses such as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) and Corrective and PreventiveAction (CAPA) requirements in a harmonized closed-loop manner.Embodiments of the intelligent enterprise bill-of-process (IEBOP)including an embedded cell for analytics focuses on the entire scope ofa global enterprise business management decision-making process.

The framework of the IEBOP is fully integrated with the EnterpriseBusiness Process Management platform and both will form a Cross-DomainEnterprise Collaborative Decision Management System, which depends oninformation being timely made available to each decision-maker in theenterprise during all states of the operation of the enterprise. TheCross-Domain Enterprise Collaborative Information system facilitatessuch availability.

Global manufacturers have complex supply chains and multiple plants thatoften capture data in different ways and report in different formats.Such data has to be gathered, transformed, cleaned, stored and analyzed,and then delivered to each person in the enterprise who needs it, in aform appropriate for their role.

The plant manager may spot a problem quickly, based on local data.However, a regional problem that is only apparent when looking ataggregated data may take longer to detect. Although traditionalenterprise business systems may be able to provide managers withaggregated global manufacturing reports on a weekly basis. However, suchperiodicity is not acceptable. During a period of a week, for example,faulty products can ship, quality teams can get bogged down withtesting, and warehouses can accumulate parts waiting for a managementdecision.

IEBOP manages a holistic interoperability for key decision-makers in theglobal enterprise and covering predetermined enterprise domains withglobal governance from a Business Process Management (BPM) point ofview. Known attempts at such interoperability provide only narrow-scopeinterconnections between ERP, PLM, and MOM systems and mainly focus ondata exchange rather than cross-domain, collaborative decisionmanagement based on enterprise information intelligence and eBPM. IEBOPprovides an innovative and holistic system based on “self-configured anddomain-enriched traveling intelligent cells (TIC)” across three maindomains (ERP, PLM, MOM) under (Business Process Management) BPMgovernance. IEBOP further provides the interoperability framework thatinvolves all key global enterprise domains: ERP, PLM/Engineering,MOM/Production.

The interoperability framework of IEBOP facilitates information sharing,but also includes a formal social collaboration process for use bydecision-makers and other knowledge stakeholders from a Global BusinessProcess Management and Governance point-of-view.

An information engine including machine learning and a predictiveanalysis capability, specifically supervised learning, facilitatesproviding action suggestions and accurate estimates of time and laborfor correcting the problem. The information engine cooperates with aCollaborative Enterprise Process Engine that ensures the relevantbusiness making workflows are implemented and managed in the globalcollaborative environment. A self-configured and automatic enrichedtraveling intelligent cell (TIC) is instantiated in each enterprisedomain to provide significant information selection, analysis, andpresentation to the proper decision-makers.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an enterprise 100 having abusiness goal in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the example embodiment, enterprise 100 includes anenterprise organization 102 that includes a plurality of entities 104.Entities 104 may include various facilities, such as, but not limited toshipping and receiving facilities, office facilities, manufacturingfacilities, including discrete manufacturing facilities, departments,such as, but not limited to human resources, engineering, accounting andother entities that facilitate the design, operation, maintenance, andmanagement of enterprise 100. Enterprise 100 also includes an input ofraw materials 106, parts and/or components 108 received from acontractor or supplier 110, and product 112, which is output tocustomers 114 through a shipping entity 116.

In some cases, at least some of entities 104 may include machines 118and/or processes 120 that are monitored by a data acquisition systemand/or a control system such as, a distributed control system (DAS/DCS)122. Each of DAS/DCS 122 typically include a computing device having aprocessor and a memory. DAS/DCS 122 are networked together and to asupervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system 124, of which anintelligent electronic bill of process (IEBOP) system 126 may be a part.IEBOP system 126 is a computer-implemented system that facilitatesorganizing management information within an enterprise. Overall controlof the management information system of the enterprise may be by anenterprise resource planner (ERP) (not shown) and IEBOP may form a partof the ERP or be communicatively coupled to it. In the exampleembodiment, IEBOP system 126 includes a plurality of enterprise processevent monitors 128 and at least one respective threshold for eachenterprise process event monitor 128 in an associated information engine130. Enterprise process event monitors 128 are communicatively coupledto one or more IEBOP communication networks 132, which permit specifiedenterprise process event monitors 128 to communicate with each other andenterprise 100. Enterprise process event monitors 128 are configured toreceive enterprise process data relating to the plurality of enterpriseprocess event monitors 128 from information engine 130. The enterpriseprocess data includes historical data relating to the enterprise processevents being monitored, real-time current information relating to theenterprise process events, and predicted data based on the historicaldata, the current data and measured or derived parameters associatedwith the at least some of the plurality of enterprise process events,and algorithmic models of at least one of the enterprise process eventsincluding parameters, variables, and measurements. Real-time productionprocess data includes one or more of maintenance process data, qualityprocess data, warehouse process data, logistic process data, laborprocess data, safety process data, and security process data from aplurality of entities within the enterprise, wherein the plurality ofentities includes third party contractors to the enterprise. In variousembodiments, the enterprise process events include at least oneproduction process event, a maintenance process event, a quality processevent, a warehouse process event, a logistic process event, a laborprocess event, a safety process event, and a security process event. Theenterprise process data is analyzed and compared to the storedthresholds to generate immediate actions directing subscribed parties toperform determined remedial procedures of an action plan. Subscriptioninformation is received from enterprise parties for each enterpriseprocess event that the enterprise parties are to be informed ofInformation relating to enterprise process events for which theenterprise parties are subscribed and which have exceeded a respectivethreshold value is periodically transmitted to the affected enterpriseparties. The immediate actions are preplanned responses to off-normal orerrant behavior of one or more of machines 118 and processes 120. Theimmediate actions direct subscribed parties to perform determinedremedial procedures of an action plan and to report a status ofimplementation of previously transmitted immediate actions. Theimmediate actions are performed by a manager's organization and themanager updates the associated enterprise process event monitor 128,which causes reporting of the updates to IEBOP system 126 and subsequentnotification of subscribed users.

At least one analytics cell 134 associated with each of the plurality ofenterprise process events is generated for each machine or processincluded within a respective enterprise process event monitor 128.Analytics cell 134 is configured to monitor an operation of anassociated machine 118 or process 120, analyze the operation of machine118 or process 120 based on analytic rules received from at least one ofinformation engine 130 and an IEBOP supervisory engine 136communicatively coupled to analytics cell 134.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an implementation of a crossdomain traveling intelligent cell (TIC) 202 in an enterprise resourceplanning environment 200. In the example embodiment, environment 200includes an engineering domain 204, a manufacturing operationsmanagement (MOM) domain 206, an enterprise resources domain 208, and maybe extended to include other existing domains 210 and/or other futuredomains (not shown). TIC 202 is self-configured and automaticallyenriched traveling intelligent cell instantiated in each enterprisedomain. Information engine 130 supports a collaborative enterpriseprocess engine 212 that ensures the relevant business making workflowsare implemented and managed in a global collaborative environment andacross all domains.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of intelligent enterprise Bill ofProcess (IEBOP) 126 as part of an enterprise bill of material (BOM).IEBOP 126 is the generative container of TIC 202. TIC 202 contains threeparts, a generic equipment and process data set, a specific equipmentand process data set, and a dynamic deployment data set that relates toat least one of a facility domain, a resource domain, and a user domain.

Collaborative scenarios with collaborative features of collaborativeenterprise process engine 212 include, for example, a predictivealgorithm that provides relevant information on experts who can helpsolving current issues. The “subscribe” feature can be used to rememberor “bookmark” these experts. A predictive algorithm detects a “trend”and performs a “historical trend comparison,” which may lead to aconclusion that an off-normal event may be eminent with respect to aproduction line. Such predictive capability generates a situationalawareness for the supervisory team to assess the severity of theprediction and to start a task sequence to manage the situationincluding “notification” to other stakeholders, for example, but notlimited to a general manager (GM), a Sales Manager and/or publicrelations (PR) manager, if this becomes necessary. An action plan may becreated and shared among teams of users for implementation. Theexecution of this action plan is monitored, controlled and managed bycollaborative enterprise process engine 212. Another collaborativefeature permits collaboration during root cause analysis, allowing a“Post” feature to provide additional documents, artifacts (photos,instructions, and notes and “Survey” feature to provide answers from theexpert team to assess the situation. Another collaborative featurepermits use of a “shared library” for upload of information anddocuments. Another collaborative feature permits use of a “chat” or“group posting” to keep the production process and the root causeanalysis process synchronized until a corrective action team determinesan action plan. Another collaborative feature permits the expert team touse a “semantic search” with natural language to search for relatedincidents historically and across the enterprise—using plain Englishlanguage like “Show all issues with parts from Supplier XYZ”. The stronginherent connection between collaborative enterprise process engine 212and information engine 130 illustrates many powerful capabilities, forexample, “slice and dice” to find out relevant information and “contextgraph” to instantly display all artifacts, documents including videos,images, drawings, discussion and posts with “relevance ranking.” Anothercollaborative feature permits all stakeholders within the overall supplychain to be “notified” through a “post” (via an automatic push channel).Other stakeholders having permanent subscription also receive automaticnotifications on update, which may trigger a chain of socialcollaborative events within the global supply chain. Anothercollaborative feature permits a corrective Action and Post-IncidentCollaboration: Team to “share” the corrective action plan to relevantplayers and request their feedback as “survey”. The acceptance rate canbe published or “posted” among the community for further comments andfeedbacks. This can lead to other technical, operational as well associal events in the enterprise.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a computer-implemented method 400 fororganizing management information within an enterprise in accordancewith an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Method uses acomputing device having a processor and a memory. In the exampleembodiment, method 400 includes storing 402 an enterprise bill ofprocess (eBOP) comprising a plurality of enterprise process events andat least one respective threshold for each enterprise process event inan information engine and receiving 404 enterprise process data relatingto the plurality of enterprise process events from an informationengine. The enterprise process data includes historical data relating tothe enterprise process events, real-time current information relating tothe enterprise process events, predicted data based on the historicaldata, the current data and measured or derived parameters associatedwith the at least some of the plurality of enterprise process events,and algorithmic models of at least one of the enterprise process eventsincluding parameters, variables, and measurements. Method 400 alsoincludes generating 406 immediate actions directing subscribed partiesto perform determined remedial procedures of an action plan.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 of an exemplary intelligent enterprisebill-of-process (IEBOP) system 520 used to facilitate communication ofenterprise process data between managers of various entities within anenterprise. In the exemplary embodiment, IEBOP system 520 facilitatesconstructing enterprise process information in data structures within amemory device 550 and enables the relevant business-making workflows tobe implemented and managed in the global collaborative environment.

In the exemplary embodiment, IEBOP system 520 includes a memory device550 and a processor 552 operatively coupled to memory device 550 forexecuting instructions. In some embodiments, executable instructions arestored in memory device 550. IEBOP system 520 is configurable to performone or more operations described herein by programming processor 552.For example, processor 552 may be programmed by encoding an operation asone or more executable instructions and providing the executableinstructions in memory device 550. Processor 552 may include one or moreprocessing units, e.g., without limitation, in a multi-coreconfiguration.

In the exemplary embodiment, memory device 550 is one or more devicesthat enable storage and retrieval of information such as executableinstructions and/or other data. Memory device 550 may include one ormore tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media, such as, withoutlimitation, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory(DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), a solid state disk, a harddisk, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and/or non-volatile RAM(NVRAM) memory. The above memory types are exemplary only, and are thusnot limiting as to the types of memory usable for storage of a computerprogram.

In the exemplary embodiment, memory device 550 may be configured tostore a variety of component and module data associated with variouscomponents and sub-components in data structures, files, or other memoryareas. Further, memory device 550 may also store component relationshipdata and threshold data, or other machine or process-related data suchas shown in FIGS. 1-4.

In some embodiments, IEBOP system 520 includes a presentation interface554 coupled to processor 552. Presentation interface 554 presentsinformation, such as a user interface and/or an alarm, to a user 556.For example, presentation interface 554 may include a display adapter(not shown) that may be coupled to a display device (not shown), such asa cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic LED(OLED) display, and/or a hand-held device with a display. In someembodiments, presentation interface 554 includes one or more displaydevices. In addition, or alternatively, presentation interface 554 mayinclude an audio output device (not shown), e.g., an audio adapterand/or a speaker.

In some embodiments, IEBOP system 520 includes a user input interface558. In the exemplary embodiment, user input interface 558 is coupled toprocessor 552 and receives input from user 556. User input interface 558may include, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, astylus, and/or a touch sensitive panel, e.g., a touch pad or a touchscreen. A single component, such as a touch screen, may function as botha display device of presentation interface 554 and user input interface558.

In the exemplary embodiment, a communication interface 560 is coupled toprocessor 552 and is configured to be coupled in communication with oneor more other devices such as, another computing system, or any devicecapable of accessing IEBOP system 520 including, without limitation, aportable laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and asmart phone. Communication interface 560 may include, withoutlimitation, a wired network adapter, a wireless network adapter, amobile telecommunications adapter, a serial communication adapter,and/or a parallel communication adapter. Communication interface 560 mayreceive data from and/or transmit data to one or more remote devices.IEBOP system 520 may be web-enabled for remote communications, forexample, with a remote desktop computer (not shown).

In the exemplary embodiment, presentation interface 554 and/orcommunication interface 560 are capable of providing informationsuitable for use with the methods described herein, e.g., to user 556 oranother device. Accordingly, presentation interface 554 and/orcommunication interface 560 may be referred to as output devices.Similarly, user input interface 558 and/or communication interface 560are capable of receiving information suitable for use with the methodsdescribed herein and may be referred to as input devices.

Further, processor 552 and/or memory device 550 may also be operativelycoupled to a storage device 562. Storage device 562 is anycomputer-operated hardware suitable for storing and/or retrieving data,such as, but not limited to, data associated with a database 164. In theexemplary embodiment, storage device 562 is integrated in IEBOP system520. For example, IEBOP system 520 may include one or more hard diskdrives as storage device 562. Moreover, for example, storage device 562may include multiple storage units such as hard disks and/or solid statedisks in a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) configuration.Storage device 562 may include a storage area network (SAN), a networkattached storage (NAS) system, and/or cloud-based storage.Alternatively, storage device 562 is external to IEBOP system 520 andmay be accessed by a storage interface (not shown).

Moreover, in the exemplary embodiment, database 564 contains a varietyof static and dynamic operational data associated with components,modules, machines and processes.

The embodiments illustrated and described herein as well as embodimentsnot specifically described herein but within the scope of aspects of thedisclosure, constitute exemplary means for managing enterprise processdata, communication and organization. For example, IEBOP system 520, andany other similar computer device added thereto or included within, whenintegrated together, include sufficient computer-readable storage mediathat is/are programmed with sufficient computer-executable instructionsto execute processes and techniques with a processor as describedherein. Specifically, IEBOP system 520 and any other similar computerdevice added thereto or included within, when integrated together,constitute an exemplary means for managing enterprise process data,communication and organization.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary configuration 600 of a database 620 within acomputing device 610, along with other related computing components,that may be used for organizing management information within anenterprise. In some embodiments, computing device 610 is similar toIEBOP system 520 (shown in FIG. 5). Database 620 is coupled to severalseparate components within computing device 610, which perform specifictasks.

In the exemplary embodiment, database 620 includes components andmodules data 622, enterprise process data 624, and threshold data 626.In some embodiments, database 620 is similar to database 564 (shown inFIG. 5). Components and modules data 622 includes information associatedwith design components and modules as described above in reference toFIGS. 1-4. Enterprise process data 624 includes historical data relatingto the enterprise process events, real-time current information relatingto the enterprise process events, predicted data based on the historicaldata, the current data and measured or derived parameters associatedwith the at least some of the plurality of enterprise process events,and algorithmic models of at least one of the enterprise process eventsincluding parameters, variables, and measurements. Threshold data 626includes data associated with limits and computational bounds of any ofthe enterprise process data.

Computing device 610 includes the database 620, as well as data storagedevices 630. Computing device 610 includes a storing component 640 forstoring an enterprise bill of process (eBOP) comprising a plurality ofenterprise process events and at least one respective threshold for eachenterprise process event in an information engine. Computing device 610also includes a receiving component 650 for receiving enterprise processdata relating to the plurality of enterprise process events from theinformation engine. Computing device 610 also includes a generatingcomponent 660 for generating immediate actions directing subscribedparties to perform determined remedial procedures of an action plan. Ananalysis component is also included for processing aspects of generatingthe immediate actions and/or action plan as described above.

As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification, theabove-described embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented usingcomputer programming or engineering techniques including computersoftware, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset thereof,wherein the technical effect is a system for managing enterprise processdata, communication and organization. Any such resulting program, havingcomputer-readable code means, may be embodied or provided within one ormore computer-readable media, thereby making a computer program product,i.e., an article of manufacture, according to the discussed embodimentsof the disclosure. The computer-readable media may be, for example, butis not limited to, a fixed (hard) drive, diskette, optical disk,magnetic tape, semiconductor memory such as read-only memory (ROM),and/or any transmitting/receiving medium such as the Internet or othercommunication network or link. The article of manufacture containing thecomputer code may be made and/or used by executing the code directlyfrom one medium, by copying the code from one medium to another medium,or by transmitting the code over a network.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications, “apps”, or code) include machine instructions for aprogrammable processor, and can be implemented in a high-levelprocedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or inassembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readablemedium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer programproduct, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks,memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machineinstructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including amachine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as amachine-readable signal. The “machine-readable medium” and“computer-readable medium,” however, do not include transitory signals.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

At least one of the technical problems addressed by this systemincludes: (i) excellent collaborative enterprise business decisionmanagement and (ii) holistic lean approach for enterprise management.Other technical problems addressed by the system and methods describedherein may include increased computer processing due to unnecessarycomponents appearing in the system, thus slowing down the computer.

The methods and systems described herein may be implemented usingcomputer programming or engineering techniques including computersoftware, firmware, hardware, or any combination or subset thereof,wherein the technical effects may be achieved by performing at least oneof the following steps: (a) storing an enterprise bill of process (eBOP)comprising a plurality of enterprise process events and at least onerespective threshold for each enterprise process event in an informationengine; (b) receiving enterprise process data relating to the pluralityof enterprise process events from an information engine; and (c)generating immediate actions directing subscribed parties to performdetermined remedial procedures of an action plan.

The resulting technical effect achieved by this system is at least oneof reducing computational requirements for maintaining organizedmanagement information within an enterprise by, for example, usingactive retrieval of data, analyzing the data based on successive statesof the enterprise, subscribing users interested in the data andanalysis, and providing the data and analysis to the subscribed users,and thus a reduced burden on the computer.

This written description uses examples to disclose the disclosure,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the disclosure, including making and using any devicesor systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scopeof the disclosure is defined by the claims, and may include otherexamples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples areintended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structuralelements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, orif they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantialdifferences from the literal languages of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for organizingmanagement information within an enterprise, said method using acomputing device having a processor and a memory, said methodcomprising: storing an enterprise bill of process (eBOP) comprising aplurality of enterprise process events and at least one respectivethreshold for each enterprise process event in an information engine;receiving enterprise process data relating to the plurality ofenterprise process events from an information engine, said enterpriseprocess data including: historical data relating to the enterpriseprocess events; real-time current information relating to the enterpriseprocess events; predicted data based on the historical data, the currentdata and measured or derived parameters associated with the at leastsome of the plurality of enterprise process events; and algorithmicmodels of at least one of the enterprise process events includingparameters, variables, and measurements; and generating immediateactions directing subscribed parties to perform determined remedialprocedures of an action plan.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein storing a plurality of enterprise process events and atleast one respective threshold for each enterprise process eventcomprises receiving a plurality of enterprise process events thatinclude at least one production process event, a maintenance processevent, a quality process event, a warehouse process event, a logisticprocess event, a labor process event, a safety process event, and asecurity process event.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising receiving subscription information from enterpriseparties for each enterprise process event that the enterprise partiesare to be informed of.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,further comprising transmitting, to the enterprise parties, informationrelating to enterprise process events for which the enterprise partiesare subscribed and which have exceeded a respective threshold value. 5.The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein transmitting, to theenterprise parties, information relating to enterprise process eventsfor which the enterprise parties are subscribed and which have exceededa respective threshold value comprises transmitting at least one ofimmediate actions directing subscribed parties to perform determinedremedial procedures of an action plan, status of implementation ofpreviously transmitted immediate actions, and request for arecommendation to modify the previously transmitted immediate actions.6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receivingenterprise process data relating to the plurality of enterprise processevents from an information engine comprises receiving in real-timeproduction process data, a maintenance process data, a quality processdata, a warehouse process data, a logistic process data, a labor processdata, a safety process data, and a security process data from aplurality of entities within the enterprise, wherein the plurality ofentities includes third party contractors to the enterprise.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein storing a plurality ofenterprise process events and at least one respective thresholdcomprises storing a plurality of activities performed by one of the aplurality of entities within the enterprise with the purpose ofachieving one or more business goals.
 8. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, wherein storing a plurality of enterprise process events andat least one respective threshold comprises storing one or morethresholds associated with each of a plurality of activities performedby one of the a plurality of entities within the enterprise with thepurpose of achieving one or more business goals, the one or morethresholds related to an ability of the respective entity to meet eachof the one or more thresholds in a predetermined amount of time.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving enterpriseprocess data relating to the plurality of enterprise process events froman information engine comprises generating at least one analytics cellassociated with each of the plurality of enterprise process events. 10.The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein generating at leastone analytics cell associated with each of the plurality of enterpriseprocess events comprises generating an analytics cell for each machineor process included within a respective enterprise process event. 11.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating ananalytics cell comprises generating an analytics cell configured tomonitor an operation of an associated machine, analyze the monitoredoperation based on analytic rules received from at least one of aninformation engine and an eBOP supervisory engine.
 12. An intelligententerprise bill-of-process (eBOP) system comprising an embeddedanalytics cell, said system comprising one or more processorscommunicatively coupled to one or more memory devices, said one or morememory devices including computer-executable instructions that whenexecuted by the one or more processors cause the one or more processorsto perform the following steps: store an enterprise bill of process(eBOP) comprising a plurality of enterprise process events and at leastone respective threshold for each enterprise process event in aninformation engine, the eBOP stored in a business objects database;receive enterprise process data from an information engine, theenterprise process data relating to the plurality of enterprise processevents, said enterprise process data includes: historical data relatingto the enterprise process events; real-time current information relatingto the enterprise process events; predicted data based on the historicaldata, the current data and measured or derived parameters associatedwith the at least some of the plurality of enterprise process events;and algorithmic models of at least one of the enterprise process eventsincluding parameters, variables, and measurements; generate immediateactions that direct subscribed parties to perform determined remedialprocedures of an action plan; and receive reports from the subscribedparties of progress of implementation of the action plan.
 13. The systemof claim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions further causethe processor to receive a plurality of enterprise process events thatinclude at least one production process event, a maintenance processevent, a quality process event, a warehouse process event, a logisticprocess event, a labor process event, a safety process event, and asecurity process event.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein thecomputer-executable instructions further cause the processor to receivesubscription information from enterprise parties for each enterpriseprocess event that the enterprise parties are to be informed of.
 15. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions furthercause the processor to receive in real-time production process data, amaintenance process data, a quality process data, a warehouse processdata, a logistic process data, a labor process data, a safety processdata, and a security process data from a plurality of entities withinthe enterprise, wherein the plurality of entities includes third partycontractors to the enterprise.
 16. The system of claim 12, wherein thecomputer-executable instructions further cause the processor to receivestoring a plurality of activities performed by one of the a plurality ofentities within the enterprise with the purpose of achieving one or morebusiness goals.
 17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storagemedia having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, whereinwhen executed by at least one processor, the computer-executableinstructions cause the processor to: store an enterprise bill of process(eBOP) comprising a plurality of enterprise process events and at leastone respective threshold for each enterprise process event in aninformation engine, the eBOP stored in a business objects database;receive enterprise process data from an information engine, theenterprise process data relating to the plurality of enterprise processevents, said enterprise process data includes: historical data relatingto the enterprise process events; real-time current information relatingto the enterprise process events; predicted data based on the historicaldata, the current data and measured or derived parameters associatedwith the at least some of the plurality of enterprise process events;and algorithmic models of at least one of the enterprise process eventsincluding parameters, variables, and measurements; and generateimmediate actions that direct subscribed parties to perform determinedremedial procedures of an action plan.
 18. The computer-readable storagemedia of claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions furthercause the processor to generate at least one analytics cell associatedwith each of the plurality of enterprise process events.
 19. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the computer-executableinstructions further cause the processor to generate an analytics cellfor each machine or process included within a respective enterpriseprocess event.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, whereinthe computer-executable instructions further cause the processor togenerate an analytics cell configured to monitor an operation of anassociated machine, analyze the monitored operation based on analyticrules received from at least one of an information engine and an eBOPsupervisory engine.